Tag Archive for: Allen West

Allen West: His View of the State of the Union

Former Congressman Lt. Col. Allen West talks about his view of the State of the Union.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/OBjThGb5SYk[/youtube]

Allen West states in an email:

Tonight President Obama announced how he plans to solve America’s fiscal crises during the final two years of his presidency. His solutions include:

  • Fixing “income inequality” and creating opportunity, instead of policies that will enable Americans to create opportunity themselves;
  • Defining “opportunity” as a government-driven equality of outcomes;
  • Extending unemployment benefits so no one ever has to worry about finding a job again;
  • Keeping the economy stagnant and in recession; and of course,
  • Completing the radical transformation of America into a socialist nation.

Anyone with half a brain knows these “solutions” are just more of Obama’s hyper-liberal propaganda and they’ll only do more damage to the fiscal and social foundations of this country. That’s why I’m writing to you at this late hour tonight.

I’m saddened to say the biggest take away from tonight’s speech is this: the most important thing for President Obama in 2014 is the mid-term election and having a compliant House and Senate that will enable his “fundamental transformation” of America.

RELATED COLUMNS:

The President Won’t Be Needing You

By the numbers: Obama’s state of the union speech, the economy and jobs

SMALL BALL: Obama downsizes ambition as agenda stalls

Obama vows to act without Congress in 2014, amid second-term woes

40 journalists axed at CNN: Is it “Taps” for the news channel?

Several weeks ago, as we reported here, the far left liberal propaganda outlet, Media Matters, declared its war on Fox News was over since Fox had changed its evening show lineup – obviously demonstrating Media Matters was victorious. and that due to its changing the evening show lineup they had been victorious. This assertion was of course absurd, but then again, truth and reality are only minor obstacles for liberal progressives.

However I would be interesting to hear how Media Matters would interpret this report from the Financial Times,

CNN has cut more than 40 senior journalists from its newsgathering operation – including a producer who was two weeks away from giving birth to twins – as part of a reorganization of the business under its president Jeff Zucker.

The cutting of production and editorial staff at the Time Warner-owned group comes as Mr Zucker tries to re-establish CNN as the dominant force in 24-hour cable news, a crown it lost several years ago to Fox News Channel.

Right now one of the most popular shows on CNN isn’t news at all but a travel and food program hosted by Anthony Bourdain, a celebrity chef. The channel has acquired a documentary about the discovery of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton and it will soon air Chicagoland, a reality series about Chicago politics.

Can you imagine the Left’s reaction if Roger Ailes was making similar moves at Fox News? CNN brought in Zucker to resuscitate the ailing network, which if you were to take away its monopoly of airports, would hardly be watched by anyone.

Apparently Zucker’s efforts have failed to lift CNN’s audiences in prime time, the crucial evening period when television networks generate most of their advertising revenue. According to the Financial Times, the network continues to lag behind Fox News and recently hit a 20-year low in prime time ratings. Nielsen revealed that CNN’s ratings for the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic fell last week to their lowest level since May 2012, with CNN averaging 78,000 viewers for the whole day and 98,000 in prime time.

So much for being “the most trusted name in news” — seems like the focus will be on dinosaurs from now on– perhaps a prophetic message?

I grew up in Atlanta and remember the days of WTCG, then TBS, and then when CNN hit the scene. No one believed a 24-hour news channel could survive.

The problem isn’t about the news being reported, it’s about how the news is being reported. If you tune in CNN, as opposed to Fox News, it seems to come from a distant parallel universe based on the information reported and how it’s presented.

CNN has surely lost its mantle as a trusted news source, after all, who made the brilliant decision to give Piers Morgan his own show? Hello Media Matters, the actions of CNN certainly look like a mea culpa to me, and most everyone else.

But President Obama need not cry too much. He still has ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and MSNBC along with most of the major newspapers carry his water.

Frankly all of them combined are getting their tails handed to them by Fox News, talk radio, and the internet. How much you want to bet this website is on the Obama and Media Matters hit lists?

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

The New Liberal Killing Fields

As President Obama returns from a well deserved and earned two-week vacation in Hawaii – ok, being quite facetious here – I wonder if he did any reflection between rounds of golf. And why is it that the First Lady remained in Hawaii to celebrate her 50th birthday?

Regardless, I reflected upon the words of George Santayana, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Reason being, as President Obama returns to Washington DC he is part of a repeat of history. After the fall of South Vietnam the rise of Southeast Asian communism ensued, Cambodia was embroiled in a five-year civil war, 1970-1975, resulting in the ascension of the Khmer Rouge. Under the brutal leadership of Pol Pot the following four years resulted in one of the most horrific acts of genocide.

It what would come to be known as the “Killing Fields” the Khymer Rouge reign contributed to the deaths of between 1.7 to 2.5 million. Pol Pot presided over a communist dictatorship that imposed a radical form of agrarian socialism on the country. His government forced urban dwellers to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects. The combined effects of executions, forced labor, malnutrition, and poor medical care caused the deaths of approximately 25 percent of the Cambodian population.

His death grip over the Democratic Kampuchea (funny how communists and socialists always call themselves Democratic) ended with the Cambodian-Vietnamese War.

Then as now, the liberal progressives of the Democrat (there’s that word again) party ardently protested and undermined the efforts of our military forces – then Vietnam, now Iraq. Then it was communism, now it is Islamic totalitarianism. Then it was the killing fields of Pol Pot, today the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. Just as the Democrats abandoned Southeast Asia, now they have abandoned the Middle East.

President Obama as true to his colors, believed that a political promise was far more important than a strategic decision. Therefore, against the recommendations of Commanders on the ground, he decided against any residual force to remain in Iraq. There will be the detractors who will say, Americans were tired of fighting. My response is that America was not fighting, it was committed Men and Women, warriors, who had defeated a vile, vicious Islamic terrorist, jihadist enemy.

Just as men like my older Brother had embarked to fight in Vietnam, yet again, politicians let them down – some things never change.

Leadership, principled, courageous leadership, would have explained to the American people why a complete withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq would not bode well. Leadership would have reminded the American people of the killing fields of Pol Pot.

Leadership would have held a press conference and stated, “I have consulted with the Commanders on the ground in Iraq, combat leaders, and concur with their recommendation for a residual force. Our men and women in Iraq have done that which many, to include myself and others in my party said was impossible. Against all odds they persevered, displayed American warrior resolve, and defeated Al Qaeda and Islamic terrorism. Now, those of you would say, it is time to withdraw, retreat, claim victory, but that is not how we sustain these fragile gains. We will maintain a residual force in Iraq that will provide an external cordon for this fledgling but historic land and people to recover. We will position our forces along the borders with Syria and Iran in order to interdict any terrorist elements. As well, we shall station forces in northern Iraq to foster military to military relations with our Kurdish friends and ensure their security along with any Christian (Assyrian and Chaldean) minorities. This may not be a popular decision, but I am not here to be a popular person, but a strategic minded President, a visionary leader. I have studied history and recall what happened after our precipitous, and dishonorable, exit from Vietnam and the killing fields of Pol Pot and the bloodthirsty communists. We shall not abandon those who risked their lives to support our efforts in Iraq. We shall not steal defeat from the jaws of success. We shall not dishonor the sacrifices of so many who over these eight years gave the last full measure of devotion. We will not let up and now is the time, now is a moment when we can, and we will, drive a stake into the heart of Islamic terrorism and send a clear message, “you can run but America will ensure that you will die tired”.

Instead, America saw a charlatan, a political imposter who, with the aid of a complicit, propagandized media, made our Nation believe there was honor in retreating. That combined with the insidious lie, “Al Qaeda is decimated and on the run” now means that a new killing field is being harvested. It is happening on the ground where American blood was shed in order to plant the seeds of liberty and freedom from islamists.

Thanks to President Barack Hussein Obama the black Al Qaeda flag now flies in Fallujah and may soon fly in Ramadi, it already flies in Benghazi.

Secretary of State John Kerry has stated that we will not send US troops – he lies. Unlike the Vietnam where he went to visit, this enemy will not rest until they have restored a global caliphate, and it starts in the Middle East. Somewhere, sometime, we will have to send US troops, again.

I served in Operation Desert Shield/ Storm. I served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. And I spent two and a half years in southern Afghanistan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom as a civilian-military advisor to the Afghan National Army. I wonder how long it will be before the Taliban flag is flying once again in Kandahar?

TAKE ACTION: Speaker Boehner, install a Select Committee on Benghazi now!

I’ve joined family members of the victims of the Benghazi terrorist attack and more than 70 fellow conservative and military leaders in sending a letter to House Speaker John Boehner demanding that he install a select committee to once and for all get the answers and the truth regarding the tragic events of September 11, 2012.

There is widespread support for a select committee to get to the bottom of disturbing questions surrounding the attack, as H.Res. 36 has 178 cosponsors. Yet Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor refuse to bring it to the House floor for a vote. You have to wonder, is there something they know that they prefer not come to light?

We can no longer accept silence, obfuscation and inaction on this subject.

You can read the letter here. Please feel free to download and circulate it widely.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

RELATED COLUMN: Obama admin bungled Benghazi, could have prevented attack: report

Shock survey: Men would rather be men

Recently the Los Angeles Times lamented that “the gender revolution has passed men by.” While women have broken into fields once dominated by men such as business, medicine and law, men have remained in stereotypically “male” jobs. Oh no!! This is terrible news for the progressives trying to re-engineer society.

But it gets even worse! According to Reyes:

In a recent survey, 51 percent of Americans told the Pew Research Center that children were better off if their mother was at home. Only 8 percent said the same about fathers.

Say it isn’t so! And what does this mean for same-sex couples raising children? (I guess it’s okay for the lesbian couples, because they’ve got two mothers to choose from.)

But it took a Harvard professor (no less) to come to the conclusion that “boys stick with typically masculine toys and games much more consistently than girls adhere to feminine ones.”

Gee, well maybe it’s because that’s the way it’s supposed to be!

As a female, I am personally delighted I’ve grown up in a generation where I can vote, own property, choose not to have a family and choose from many different career options. However, as we wrote about women in the military, there are simply some things I will NEVER be able to do as well as a man. And I’m totally okay with that.

I never thought I would find myself enthusiastically agreeing with über-feminist Camile Paglia, but even SHE recently wrote about the “defense of masculine virtues.”

Paglia says ignoring the biological differences between men and women is undermining Western civilization – in fact she says, “What you’re seeing is how a civilization commits suicide.”

According to an interview Paglia gave to the Wall Street Journal, this feminization of our culture is occurring because “manliness” is no longer valued.

She starts by pointing to the diminished status of military service. “The entire elite class now, in finance, in politics and so on, none of them have military service—hardly anyone, there are a few. But there is no prestige attached to it anymore. That is a recipe for disaster,” she says. “These people don’t think in military ways, so there’s this illusion out there that people are basically nice, people are basically kind, if we’re just nice and benevolent to everyone they’ll be nice too. They literally don’t have any sense of evil or criminality.”

Paglia says the feminizing indoctrination starts as early as kindergarten:

“Primary-school education is a crock, basically. It’s oppressive to anyone with physical energy, especially guys,” she says, pointing to the most obvious example: the way many schools have cut recess. “They’re making a toxic environment for boys. Primary education does everything in its power to turn boys into neuters.”

You know, a couple years ago, my boss (whom you might know), was pilloried by the Left when he suggested liberal progressive women and policies were neutering men. Turns out even a liberal progressive woman who voted for Obama agrees with him. Funny how that happens.

Boys will be boys and men should be men because that’s the way nature (and God) intended it.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Alarming video: Al Qaeda growing and taking “a new approach to death”

[youtube]http://youtu.be/vRL0tNpA19U[/youtube]

Remember, when President Obama said “Osama bin Laden is dead and Al Qaeda is decimated and on the run?” If it weren’t for the fawning liberal progressive media, that statement could have been the “Lie of the Year” for 2012.

According to a CNN report,

The terror group’s manpower has increased in recent years, it has gained control of more territory in North Africa and the Middle East and is taking a different approach to death. While al Qaeda suffered significant setbacks after Navy SEALs shot and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, and drone strikes have taken out top terrorists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the terror group and its close allies have rebounded in Yemen, the Sinai region of Egypt, Libya, Iraq, and parts of east and west Africa, among other places. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, headquartered in Yemen, is particularly concerning.

CNN says sources have uncovered chatter that suggests “active plotting” and there are there are multiple indications that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is plotting attacks both within Yemen, against U.S. and Western structures and overseas,” according to Seth Jones, an analyst at Rand Corp.

If none of that concerns you, watch this video, which was released on Christmas Day. It calls for al Qaeda sympathizers to take things into their own hands and launch attacks in the West. In the two minute intro the speaker says, “We pray to Allah that the example set by Nidal Hassan becomes a source of inspiration for all Muslims.”

One year after the reelection of Barack Hussein Obama, Islamic totalitarians are not decimated and not on the run, but are stronger. No doubt Afghanistan will follow suit, if this is the paradigm for the Obama administration. The Middle East has been completely destabilized and with the current incursion into Southern Sudan by President Obama, one has to be concerned that it too will be destabilized, as was Libya.

This is what happens when the media is subjective rather than objective in analysis or telling the truth to the American people. But it’s too late now. We still face three more years of a failing Obama and a foreign policy that entices and emboldens our enemies. Weakness is intoxicating, and Islamic terrorists are drunk right now.

The next American president must be able to lead and command fear and respect from our enemies. Some may read this and say, “at this point in time what difference does it make?” But for those who’ve been on the receiving end of an AK-47, for those who will have to fight this resurgent enemy, and for those who will lose their lives in the next terrorist attack, it makes a doggone lot of difference.

This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Americans get scrooged as Obamacare deadline shifts again

Ask most Americans what today is and they’ll reply the eve of Christmas Eve, and many are out completing their last minute shopping.

Today was supposed to be the deadline to sign up for Obamacare in order to make the January 1 cutoff. But you can chalk up today to yet another failure – as administration officials have quietly extended the deadline 24 hours to Christmas Eve, according to the Washington Post.

As reported by Fox News this morning:

A series of administration fixes and delays is turning the milestone into a day that for many Americans will underscore the uncertainty about the future of the law. The original plan was simple — that Americans who enrolled in Obamacare, online or otherwise, by Dec. 23 and paid in full would have insurance when coverage kicks in New Year’s Day. But the disastrous Oct. 1 start for the federal website and some state-run sites — marked by crashes and the dissemination of incorrect information — sent President Obama and other top administration officials scrambling to change the law in hopes of bolstering enrollment numbers.

Obamacare is fraught with fundamental problems — not just the website — but the overall premise, and even yesterday Democrat Senator Joe Manchin, whom I thoroughly respect, recommended this whole thing be delayed, particularly the individual mandate tax.

Many economic forecasters and market analysts agree we have yet to see the full impact of Americans losing their coverage. Next year could be even more horrific because of the employer mandate which was “unconstitutionally” delayed by President Obama.

Just last week, as we reported, Obama issued another change decree stating that those who had lost their insurance coverage — because of his own mandate — could retain their previously declared “substandard, junk plans” and not be subject to the individual mandate tax.

Obamacare is NOT a law. Let me state this again, Obamacare IS NOT A LAW. It is the whimsical design of deviant minds that will destabilize one-sixth of our economy for their own political and ideological gain.

Just yesterday, President Obama again evidenced his delusion as he restated his case that Obamacare is on the right track and urged those who had yet to enroll to do so by Monday. “The law is working,” he said in a statement. “If you don’t have health insurance, go to [the site] right now and sign up. If you do it before December 23rd, you can be covered on the first day of the New Year… I’m asking you to spread the word about getting covered.”

If the “law is working,” then why grant yet another exemption before he whisked off on vacation to Hawaii? Obama delivered yet another lie when he stated, “I completely get how upsetting this can be for a lot of Americans.”

The upsetting part is that these Americans were fine with their plans until his imperial excellency decided he knew what was best for them — and then proceeded to hose it all up.

Those Americans who lost their plans will not be able to restore comparable pricing, due to the administration’s upheaval of the industry and the ever expanding pool of high risk, elderly, and indigent onto the insurance rolls After all, someone has to subsume the costs and subsidize the system.

According to Fox, while enrollment is ticking upwards,

Several underlying problems persist, including the accuracy of the numbers and how many of those enrolled have in fact paid for their policies. Such problems could create far more serious consequences in the coming weeks should people who think they have insurance under ObamaCare go to a pharmacy or doctor’s office and find out otherwise.

But of course when that happens, the insidious blame game will kick in and the insurance companies will take the hit from President Obama. Robert Moffit, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Health Policy Studies, spoke with FoxNews.com on Friday and explained it this way,

“The complexity of the law, including who is exempt from what, will continue to confuse Americans. This whole thing has turned into a rat’s nest of rules and regulations. Who would have thought Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius would grant so many hardships? … This administration is under the mindset of how America is supposed to work, which has nothing to do with how it really works.”

As esteemed author and conservative philosopher Thomas Sowell put it, “We have traded in that which works, for that which sounds good.”

Merry Christmas America from President Barack Hussein Obama. You get a lump of coal, and he is the one who’s been naughty.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

“Obama, Obama, don’t you care? Christian blood is everywhere”

Photo courtesy of The Tennessean.

Robert Spencer from Jihad Watch reports, “How odd that Bob Smietana, a journalist who is reliably biased in favor of Islamic supremacists, didn’t call the rally goers “racist, bigoted Islamophobes.” Spencer is referring to a column by Bob Smietana titled, “”200 Coptic Christians rally in Nashville, call for peace in Egypt.”

Florida is home to eleven Coptic Christian churches while Tennessee has five. Information about the Coptic Christian church may be found at CopticChurch.net.

The Tennessean, August 19th reports:

More than 200 Coptic Christians demonstrated in downtown Nashville, calling for an end to the violence in Egypt.

Many chanted “Obama, Obama, don’t you care? Christian blood is everywhere,” and “Pray for Egypt” while waiving Egyptian flags.

Others, like Anour Fares, held homemade signs with messages like “We are against Muslim Brotherhood.”

Amany Shahata, who has lived in the United States for 16 years, said she feared for Christians living in Egypt, whose churches had been burned down in recent days. She and other protesters blamed the Muslim Brotherhood.

“What is terrorism, but being afraid to go out of your house because someone will attack you,” she said. “… We can build churches anywhere but in our own country.”

At one point demonstrators lined both sides of First Avenue and called out slogans as cars went by. They shouted “eid wahda,” an Egyptian phrase that translates as “one hand,” meaning that the Egyptian people, both Christians and Muslims, were united with the army against terrorism, which they blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Abram Thabet said that he hopes the Obama administration will stand by the Egyptian government. He said that he fled Cairo two years ago with his family because he feared persecution.

“The Christians in Egypt are paying a very high price,” he said. “I couldn’t keep my children safe.”…

UPDATE: Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsel, states, “At a press briefing, a reporter asked [White House press secretary Josh Earnest] what the ‘red line’ is for U.S. action to defend Egypt’s Christians from jihad. The White House responded, ‘I didn’t bring my red pen out with me today.’ The press corps fell silent.”

RELATED:

U.S. Egyptians to rally against Muslim Brotherhood at White House, WaPo, CNN, and Hamas-linked CAIR office

Egyptian Military Warns Obama: ‘Supporting Terrorism’ in Egypt is ‘Red Line’

Egyptian official: Obama’s brother architect of major Muslim Brotherhood investments

What is the Difference Between “Extremist” and “Moderate” Muslim Brothers?

Egypt: What the Muslim Brotherhood has accomplished

Raymond Ibrahim: Mubarak’s Muslim Brotherhood Prophecy

Lost: Obama Middle East Policy, 2013-2016,(1) Why U.S. Policy Betrayed the Moderates

The Supreme Court’s Marriage Decisions by the Numbers

The following is courtesy of the Heritage Foundation:

The morning after two important—and troubling—Supreme Court decisions in the Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) cases, here’s the lay of the land. The important take away: The marriage debate is every bit as live today as it was yesterday morning. Some key numbers following the decisions:

50  The number of states whose marriage laws remain the same after the Court’s marriage decisions.

38  The number of states with laws defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. That includes California and Florida, where the scope of today’s Prop 8 decision beyond the specific plaintiffs will be the subject of ongoing debate and, most likely, further litigation.

12  The number of states that can now force the federal government to recognize their redefinition of marriage. The Court struck Section 3 of DOMA, which means that it must recognize same-sex marriages in states that redefine marriage.

1  The number of sections of the Defense of Marriage Act struck down yesterday (Section 3). Section 2, which ensures that no state will be forced to recognize another state’s redefinition of marriage, is still law.

0  The number of states forced to recognize other states’ redefinition of marriage.

Ryan Anderson discusses what the Supreme Court did in its marriage decisions—but why the proponents of same-sex marriage failed to achieve their goal of a court-imposed nationwide redefinition.

The important news you may not be hearing is that the U.S. Supreme Court did not redefine marriage across the nation. That means the debate about marriage will continue. States are free to uphold policies recognizing that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, so that children have a mother and a father.

In the states, support for marriage as the union of a man and a woman remains strong. Many believe the Court should have respected the authority of California citizens and Congress.

On DOMA, it appears the Court did not respect Congress’s authority to define marriage for the purposes of federal programs and benefits. The Court may have gotten federalism wrong.

On Proposition 8, the citizens of California who voted twice to pass Prop 8 should have been able to count on their Governor and Attorney General to defend the state’s constitution. That’s what democratic self-government is all about.

Download your free copy of TheMarriageFacts.com.

Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad.

Florida Republican Club cancels speech on “radical Islam” – Speaker responds

Dr. Jonathan Matusitz

WDW – FL received a copy of the letter below, which was sent from Dr. Jonathan Matusitz to Peter Schorsch, Editor of the St. Petersburg Blog. Dr. Matusitz was schedule to speak at the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC) on Monday, June 10th. His appearance was cancelled due to pressure primarily from board member, Chris Latvala who posted an objection on his Facebook page.

Dr. Matusitz is an associate professor in the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He studies globalization, culture, terrorism and health communication. On top of having 95 academic publications and over 100 conference presentations, he taught at a NATO-affiliated military base in Belgium in 2010.

The unedited letter follows:

Dear Peter Schorsch,

To my dismay, it is the first time that some Republicans have openly expressed their objection to my presentation on Islam. As a UCF faculty, I never intend to be controversial; rather, I try to be factual and 100% correct. If I didn’t think Islam poses a threat to Western civilization, then I would not stick my neck out by delivering public presentations on that subject. As Anna Phillips has aptly remarked in the Tampa Bay Times, I make a distinction between Islam (the threat) and the average Muslim (who is NOT the threat). What you also need to know is that, unlike other faiths, Islam is not just a religion; it is also a political system and global ideology. And, unfortunately, such political system and global ideology are profoundly anti-Western.

Based on your (and Chris Latvala’s) comments, you expressed concerns that my presentation on the “Islamic Threat to America” at the Republican Party of Pinellas County may hurt the election of local Republican candidates because (1) you think that my speech is not important to the mission of the party and (2) you think it may alienate Muslim voters as the purpose of my speech is to criticize Islam. It is obvious that both you and Chris would sacrifice pro-American conservative values in order to earn votes from people of all religions and creeds.

Please allow me to be clear: your strategy of earning votes from Muslims will not be efficient. Indeed, in regards to Muslim constituents themselves, for the past few decades, in the Western world, no matter what method Republicans and Conservatives have used to earn votes from Muslims, the vast majority of the latter have always voted for Democrat, Socialist, or left-wing parties. Below are statistics about Muslim votes in Western European countries and North America.

Muslim Vote in Western Europe

According to a poll conducted by France 24 (a French news channel), 95% of French Muslims voted for Ségolène Royal, the Socialist candidate, against Nicolas Sarkozy (http://www.france24.com/en/20120315-secular-france-religion-decisive-electoral-factor-muslim-jewish-vote-sarkozy-hollande)

According to a poll conducted by Le Figaro (a French newspaper), 93% of French Muslims voted for François Hollande, who became the Socialist President of France in 2012 (http://www.businessinsider.com/muslims-hollande-france-sarkozy-2012-5)

According to a poll conducted by The Guardian, only 16% of British Muslims tend to vote Conservative (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/feb/23/muslim-votes-tory-election)

According to The Position of Muslims in the Netherlands: Fact Book 2010, “Turks and Moroccans traditionally vote for left-wing parties” (p. 24) (http://www.forum.nl/Portals/International/english-pdf/Muslims-in-the-Netherlands-2010.pdf)

Muslim Vote in North America

According to a CAIR poll published on Fox News, 85% of American Muslims voted for Obama in the 2012 Presidential Elections (http://nation.foxnews.com/muslim-american-votes/2012/11/09/poll-85-american-muslims-voted-obama)

In the 2011 Canadian elections, only 12% of Canadian Muslims voted Conservative (http://www.dennisgruending.ca/2011/05/election-2011-political-and-religious-polarization/)

Peter, I just want to make sure that you clear out the misconceptions that you have about me. You referred to me as “controversial” and “apolitical,” and that is flat-out wrong.

Thank you for reading this.

Dr. Jonathan Matusitz

RELATED COLUMNS:

Republican Party of Pinellas County stifles free speech

“The Americans fear that their cultural barrier has been broken and now Jihad has become a normal career choice for any youthful American Muslim”

RELATED VIDEO: 

Panel Discussion – Radical Islam and U.S. National Security – Orlando, FL 4/20/2013. Frank Gaffney – Moderator, Pamela Geller, Jonathan Matusitz, and William J. Murray.

Miami, FL: Good guy with a gun, stops bad guy with a gun

This story is courtesy of Michael Dorstewitz from BizPac Review:

National Rifle Association spokesman Wayne LaPierre recently remarked, “The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Florida man made this point crystal clear over the weekend.

At a Burger King on Miami’s Biscayne Blvd., a robber walked in, displayed his gun and demanded that a family turn over its valuables, according to NBC-6 News Miami.

What the robber didn’t consider is that Floridians respect the Constitution, including the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The father pulled out his own firearm and shot the robber in the leg.

Read more.

View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.

Palm Beach GOP Chair: Don’t talk about Allen West

Jack Furnari in his BizPac Review column “GOP boss: Don’t talk about Allen West voter fraud or other ‘oddball issues’” reports, “[Palm Beach County Republican Party Chair Ira] Sabin told me he doesn’t want his board members to publicly discuss ‘voter fraud, birtherism, the St. Lucie County voter fraud suit’ or any other ‘oddball issues’ he deems off message.”

Furnari notes this can lead to conflict as his vice-Chair is part of the St. Lucie County law suit. Furnari notes, “[Vice-Chairman Michael] Barnett is one of the lawyers litigating the True the Vote lawsuit against St. Lucie County Elections Supervisor Gertrude Walker over the irregularities in Allen West’s loss to Patrick Murphy, and that’s one of the banned topics.

True the Vote is a non-partisan grassroots organization that focuses on election fraud. Lou Ann Anderson from Watchdog Wire – Texas reported, “Former Florida Congressman Allen West narrowly lost his November re-election bid and St. Lucie County was a standout locale in terms of alleged voting irregularities.  To protect future election integrity, Houston-based True The Vote is suing the St. Lucie supervisor of elections. In a recent video announcement, True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht emphasized the importance of learning the truth.  “The sanctity of our elections is too important to let this slide,” she said.

Watch True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht’s video announcement of the lawsuit:

Anderson reports Engelbrecht additionally noted, “We the people have a right and a responsibility to demand answers when our election process fails.  And that’s what we’re doing.  Demanding answers.”

UN maps show, “more guns, less crime” is true internationally as well as domestically

Awr Hawkins discovered some maps created by the United Nations in 2007. The world maps depict levels of gun ownership and homicides. As Hawkins points out, “”[T]hese maps show, ‘more guns, less crime’ is true internationally as well as domestically.”

Hawkins states, “Since 1998, John Lott’s seminal work More Guns, Less Crime has been used to show that areas with the highest gun ownership in America experience the least crime on a per capita basis.” The United Nations appears to confirm Lott’s finding on a global scale. As has been stated time and again, the efforts to restrict law abiding citizens from owning firearms is all about control, not guns.

Crime and guns are inextricably linked. If you want to reduce crime, buy a gun.

Here are the maps presented by Hawkins:

Enterprise Florida: Economic Development or Corporate Welfare?

Today, Integrity Florida, an independent ethics watchdog group, in partnership with Americans for Prosperity – Florida, released a research report titled “Enterprise Florida: Economic Development or Corporate Welfare”.

According to co-authors Ben Wilcox and Dan Krassner, “The report illustrates Enterprise Florida’s apparent conflicts of interest, appearance of pay-to-play and its practice of picking of winners and losers in the marketplace.”

The report states:

“Floridians have entrusted Enterprise Florida, a public–private partnership focused on economic development, with significant public resources to deliver high quality job creation results, yet the organization has failed to accomplish its goals. Why has Enterprise Florida struggled as an economic development program? To better understand its operations, we take a close look at the incentive agreements executed by Enterprise Florida in the 2012 fiscal year. We selected 2012 because it presents the most recent data. It’s also a year that the Florida Secretary of Commerce has boasted of being an exemplar of success, referring to previous years’ efforts as “marginal at best.”

In addition to illustrating the failure to meet legislative expectations, this report documents Enterprise Florida’s apparent conflicts of interest, the appearance of a pay-to-play scheme for winning favorable treatment and its repeated practice of picking winners and losers in the marketplace through targeted business, favoritism, and selective incentive deals.” [My emphasis]

The report finds:

1. Enterprise Florida has failed to meet its job creation objective: In 1992, the Florida Legislature created Enterprise Florida with an initial objective of creating 200,000 high-wage jobs by 2005. After operating for twenty years and despite negotiating more than 1,600 transactions involving economic development incentive agreements worth more than $1.7 billion,iv Enterprise Florida reports that only 103,544 jobs have been delivered since 1995 – half of their original target and eight years beyond its original target date.

2. Enterprise Florida has failed to obtain its required level of private sector support: As a public-private partnership, Enterprise Florida is expected to obtain private sector support to help pay for its costs of operation. The Florida Legislature required Enterprise Florida to obtain 50% private sector contributions by Fiscal Year 2000-01. As of Fiscal Year 2010-11, more than 85% of Enterprise Florida’s funding comes from government and less than 15% comes from the private sector.

3. Enterprise Florida has the appearance of pay-to-play: Enterprise Florida, while subject to the dominion and control of the Florida Legislature,viii collects on average $50,000 each from corporate members for about half of the seats on the organization’s board of directors.ix Several Enterprise Florida board member companies received incentive agreements and vendor contracts following negotiations with Enterprise Florida staff during the 2012 fiscal year giving the appearance of pay-to-play.

4. Enterprise Florida has apparent conflicts of interest: The Enterprise Florida Board of Directors and the organization’s staff have a relationship that may be a conflict of interest. Enterprise Florida staff bonus pay of nearly $500,000 ($427,500 for staff, $70,000 for President/CEO) in 2012 was provided by Enterprise Florida board member companies that were also Enterprise Florida vendors and others that were recipients of incentive deals in the 2012 fiscal year.

5. Enterprise Florida is picking winners and losers: A number of executed agreements detailed in the 2012 Enterprise Florida Incentives Report demonstrate clear state government favoritism of some companies and industries. Enterprise Florida issues unnecessary benefits packages to entice businesses that should already be attracted Florida’s business friendly environment. These benefits are not necessarily enjoyed by competitors across an industry or all businesses moving to or expanding in Florida.

Click here to read the full report.

TRUE THE VOTE SUES ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA

HOUSTON, TX. February 4, 2013 –True the Vote announced today that it filed a lawsuit against the St. Lucie County, Florida Supervisor of Elections, to enforce record inspection rights under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) and the Florida Constitution.

True the Vote demands that all records pertaining to the recent 18th Congressional District election and subsequent recounts between Rep. Allen West and Patrick Murphy be reviewed in order to perform a comprehensive third-party audit (True the Vote, Inc. v. Gertrude Walker in her official capacity as St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections, Civil Action (No 2:13cv14046.)).

Watch the video announcement:

True the Vote seeks to compel St. Lucie County election authorities to grant complete inspection rights to all election records pertaining to the 18th District race and voter registration records under federal and state law. In addition, True the Vote demands that the court order the Supervisor of Elections to preserve all records. If granted access, TTV will determine a precise vote count, document any illegal participation in the election and offer solutions to prevent similar failures in future recounts.

“This dramatic recount was an extraordinary example of how our elections can suffer systematic failure,” True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said. “We run the risk seeing episodes like this becoming ordinary if citizens do not demand answers and hold election officials accountable. The American people own the voting system – we have the right to ask tough questions when we witness the failure of one of America’s core functions.

“The clock is ticking on the opportunity for a comprehensive, outside audit of this recount,” Engelbrecht continued. “Each passing day heightens the risk of critical documents being disposed of. If you thought voter fraud could erode America’s confidence in elections, unchecked incompetence in the vote tabulation process will destroy all faith remaining in our systems.”

“Gone are the days when Motor Voter is a law used only by a couple of special interest groups. The law requires physical inspections, I hope we reach a quick agreement,” attorney J. Christian Adams of the Election Law Center said.

On November 6, St. Lucie County election administrators admitted that ballot tabulation machines suffered a malfunction, preventing early vote totals from being properly counted. County workers were forced to hand-feed ballots into tabulation machines as a result.

On November 8, West demanded a full recount of early votes and copies of poll sign-in records to compare voter participation against ballots cast. West’s requests were denied and ignored, respectively.

On November 9, West demanded that a Florida state court impound all ballots and voting machines, but made no claims of the sort True the Vote makes today in federal court. West’s requests in state court were denied.

On November 10, St. Lucie County “unofficially certified” the vote count for CD-18 and publicly acknowledged “uncertainty” over the early vote totals. St. Lucie County called an emergency meeting to “recount all ballots cast during early voting.” The county later reversed itself, only performing a partial retabulation. After the partial retabulation, the lead for Patrick Murphy decreased.

On November 13, Defendant Gertrude Walker held a press conference admitting that her staff acted with “haste” and that “mistakes were made” throughout the tabulation and partial recount process. Florida Division of Elections auditors were dispatched to investigate how 799 votes disappeared or changed hands during the partial recount.

On November 16, Defendant Walker claimed to find 306 early votes in a box at her office that had not been counted. The St. Lucie County Canvassing Board ordered a recount of all early votes, with a deadline set for noon on November 18.

On November 17, the full recount operation was relocated to a privately-owned property. County workers were evicted from the premises late at night, suspending the recount until the next morning.

On November 18, County workers failed to meet the deadline, instead certifying the original November 10 tabulation, which officials claimed “uncertainty” over the accuracy of the results.

True the Vote later demanded to review poll books, “voter credit” lists, felon files and others to perform a comprehensive audit of the CD-18 tabulations. Inspection rights were not granted and so this lawsuit was made necessary.

“My clients are demanding that Walker immediately allow an in person public inspection of all records relating to the election in Florida’s 18th Congressional District between Allen West and Patrick Murphy,” local counsel Michael A. Barnett said.

True the Vote filed its complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida – Fort Pierce Division.

Click here to read True the Vote’s filing.

True The Vote (TTV) a nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots organization focused on preserving election integrity is operated by citizens for citizens, to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process. TTV empowers organizations and individuals across the nation to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation. For more information, please visit www.truethevote.org.

True The Vote NOW (TTVN) is a public policy organization dedicated to reforming our voting systems at state and federal levels. True the Vote NOWpromotes solutions that increase citizen engagement and restore faith in our elections. For more information, please visit www.truethevotenow.org.

Voto Honesto (TTV) es una organización sin fines de lucro, no partidaria, enfocada en preservar la integridad en las elecciones y operada por ciudadanos para ciudadanos, ara inspirar y equipar a voluntarios para envolverse en cada una de las etapas del proceso electoral. TTT capacita a organizaciones e individuos a través de la nación para activamente proteger los derechos de los votantes legítimos, sin importar a que partido político perteneces. Para más información, por favor visite www.truethevote.org.